Air conditioning unit for vehicles



June l, 1965 H W KLEIST 3,186,186

AIR CONDITIONING UNIT FOR VEHICLES Filed July l2, 1963 I NVEN TOR.

United States Patent O 3,186,186 AIR CONDITIONING UNIT FOR VEHICLES Herman W. Kleist, Hollywood, Ill., assignor to Dole Refrigeratng Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation f Illinois Filed July 12, 1963, Ser. No. 294,672 1 Claim. (Cl. 62-263) This invention relates to a self-contained unitary refrigeration system for use in vehicles, and has for a primary purpose a lightweight unit of this type in which the heat exchange assembly and the condensing assembly are a single unit mounted on opposite sides of an insulating bulkhead partition.

Another purpose is a self-contained refrigeration unit of the type described in which the condensing assembly and heat exchange assembly are generally balanced in weight.

Another purpose is a 4self-contained refrigeration assembly of the type described in which the condensing assembly extends through an aperture in the vehicle, with the aperture being generally the size and shape of the insulating bulkhead between the condensing assembly and the heat exchange assembly.

Another purpose is a self-contained completely assembled refrigeration unit of the type described which may be quickly and easily attached for use in a vehicle.

Another purpose is a refrigeration unit of the type described including an internal combustion engine positioned Within the condensing assembly for driving the same.

Other purposes will appear in the ensuing specification, drawings and claims.

The invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the following drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the refrigerant system, and

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section through the refrigeration assembly shown in FIGURE 1.

In FIGURE 1, a conventional refrigeration system is shown to include a condenser which supplies refrigerant through a duct 12 to the heat exchange assembly indicated generally at 14. A suitable fan or the like 16 may be positioned to direct cooling air over the condenser 10. A line 18 may carry the compressed refrigerant, which may be any one of a number of suitable types of refrigerants, from a compressor 20 to the condenser 10. The compressor 20 may be driven in any suitable manner. One satisfactory drive arrangement includes an internal combustion engine 22 positioned within the condenser assembly and connected by a suitable belt or the like 24 to the compressor 2t). A small diesel is a satisfactory type of internal combustion engine, although the invention should not be limited thereto, as gas engines are also satisfactory. In some applications the compressor may be driven from the vehicle drive, assuming that the vehicle is a truck. In other applications the compressor may be driven from an axle of the vehicle. A line 26 carries the refrigerant from the heat exchange assembly 14 to the compressor 20. An expansion valve or the like 27 may be positioned just ahead of the heat exchange assembly to permit the compressed cooled refrigerant to expand prior to taking on heat with the heat exchange assembly.

The heat exchange assembly 14 may include a somewhat rectangular-shaped housing 28 mounting a group of what may be termed finned coils indicated at 30. The coils may either be connected in series or in parallel, but all of them will receive cooled compressed refrigerant from the line 12 and will discharge the refrigerant through line 26. Each of the coils 3- rnay include a generally central duct or pipe 32 which contains the 3,186,186 Patented June 1, 1965 rice volatile refrigerant. In the preferred form the duct 32 may be surrounded by a housing or enclosure 34, which may be generally square in cross section, with the space within the housing and around the duct 32 being filled with a -suitable eutectic substance. Fins or the like 36, which again may be square in shape, although this is not necessary, are positioned on the outside of the housing 34. The iins are spaced to provide passages for the air to be cooled. At the bottom of the housing 28, I may provide a suitable fan or the like 38 which is effective to draw air into the bottom open end of the housing 38 and move it past the cooling coils and then out an upper discharge opening-40. The top of the housing, indicated at 42, may be somewhat curved or arcuate to direct the air from the opening 40 out into the space to be cooled.

The refrigeration unit shown is adapted for use in any one of a number of vehicles. It may be used in railroad cars, trucks of the large overland type, or smaller trucks designed for delivery use. The term vehicle, as used herein, is meant to include use in any one of these or similar units.

As illustrated in FIGURE 2, the condenser assembly may extend through an opening 44 in the wall 46 of a vehicle. It is not necessary to attach the unit to a wall of a vehicle and it may besatisfactorily attached to the oor or the ceiling. It is preferred, however, to attach the heat, exchange assembly housing 28 to the interior of the Wall 46 by means of brackets or the like 48 with the condenser housing extending through the opening or aperture 44. In this connection, the opening 44 should be generally the'same in size and shape as the condenser housing, as normally the unit will be installed from the inside of the vehicle. A partition or the like 50 which may be of suitable insulating material is mounted between the heat exchange assembly housing 28 and the condenser assembly with the partition being of a size and shape to completely till the opening 44 to seal the interior of the space to be cooled.

Of the particular importance is the weight relationship between the heat exchange assembly and the condenser assembly. It is preferred that the weights of these two units be generally equal or balanced so as to prevent excessive strain on the wall46. When one or the other of these two units is substantially heavier than its counterpart, there may be severe bending or torsion applied to the wall 46. It is preferred, as illu-strated in FIGURE 2, to have the heat exchange assembly 28 positioned completely above the oor to do away with a lioor support. This is not necessary and in some applications the unit may extend to the oor.

The use, operation and function of the invention are i as follows:

The self-contained refrigeration unit shown is particularly advantageous in that all the refrigeration connections can be made in the factory. The unit, completely assembled, may be installed in any type of vehicle with relative ease. -An opening is formed for the condenser assembly and the unit is then moved in and attached to the wall with the condenser ,assembly extending out through the opening. The insulating bulkhead partition 50 is of a size and shape to close the aperture for-med in the vehicle wall to provide a completely sealed space for perishables or other material to be cooled.

Of importance is the relative weights between the two units on opposite sides of the insulating bulkhead. It is preferred that these weights be substantially in balance to avoid excessive strain on the intermediate wall.

Of importance is the fact that the entire refrigeration system may be both quickly installed and quickly removed. In this Way trucks may be adapted for differing uses and it is not necessary to have thc refrigeration system as an integral part of the truck.

As shown in the drawings, the nned coils which cool the air passing through the heat exchange assembly include a container for an euteetic. Such a so-called hold-over provides cooling even when refrigerant is not passing through the coils. It is not always necessary to have an eutectic with a refrigeration system of this type.

In some units, particularly those which are self-contained to the extent that an internal combustion engine in the condenser assembly furnishes the drive, an eutectic may not be necessary. In other systems in which the refrigeration system is driven from either the vehicle motor or from a vehicle axle, it may be advantageous to provide a hold-over or eutectic. Y

The drive for the unit may vary,"alth'ough it is preferred, in line with the concept of having the system selfcontained, to provide an internal combustion engine, for example a diesel, within the condenser assembly.

In some applications, it may be advantageous to provide a second coil, in parallel with the lirst coil, but adapted for use as a heater. The second coil may contain a suitable heated fluid from a separate source. The heater may be used as a method of temperature regulation in cooperation with the cooling coil or may be used to heat the vehicle interior.

Whereas the preferred form of the invention has been sho-wn and described herein, it should be realized that there are many modifica-tions, substitutions and alterations thereto within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

An easily insertable Yand removable refrigeration unit for storage housings, said refrigeration unit including, in combination,

a condenser assembly,

said condenser assembly being of a size suicient to be passed outwardly through an aperture in a substantially planar wall from the interior of a storage housing,

a heat exchange assembly,

said heat exchange assembly being operatively connected to and movable with the condenser assembly to thereby form a self-contained unit,

said heat exchange assembly being of a substantially greater cross-sectional area than the condenser assembly to which it is connected,

said heat exchange assembly including an evaporator,

said evaporator being substantially longer and wider than it is thick, Y

said evaporator being so disposed with respect to the condenser assembly that the minimum thickness of the evaporator is disposed substantially perpendicular to the planar wall to which the assembly is mounted,

said evaporator including air moving means for circulating air in the plane formed by one of the t-wo longest dimensions of the evaporator, and substantially transversely to the minimum dimension of the v evaporator,

whereby entrance and exit of air from the evaporator occurs at remote locations and moves along a swbstantially undeviating path from entrance to exit,

the major pontion of said path lying substantially para1- lel to the wall adjacent the evaporator.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,336,735 12/43 Jones 62-450 2,735,277 2/56 Clark 62--450 2,795,114 6/ 57 Kleist 62-439 ROBERT A. oLEAaY, `Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM I. WYE, Examiner. 

